INTRODUCTION IX

seen but few traces of his future genius. He had bêen more successful with a satire, le Triomphe du Bilboquet, but had failed completely with his Iliade travestie, in twelve books and in verse.

In spite of his failures in his early novels, Marivaux is well known as a novelist, and his Vie de Marianne and his Paysan parvenu are considered by some critics, among whom is Villemain, as superior in merit to his best comédies. Marianne appeared in eleven parts, from 1731 to 1741, and le Paysan parvenu, in five parts, in 1735. In bot h of thèse novels the author makes a studv of t he middle classes, which he seems to hâve known as well as the society whïch he met in the literary salons , oTwBich hë wàs an habitué. He makes use of his knowledge of the higher classes to describe them perfectly in his co médi e s, âhd he describes the middle classes in his novels. Hé was disjnterested and generous and took an interest in the people, whomTiëTïked to observe in the streets and other public places. In his novels we see the same psychological and moral analysis^ as in his other works, and we follow with interest the career of Marianne and of Jacob in Paris, although the author himseB seems to care little for the plot of the story, as he left both novels unfinished. He related adventures to make us know the personages in the novel, and having shown their thoughts and their passions to us, he lost interest in them and allowed them to get along in life the best way they could, without his aid. Ifereminds us somewhat of Molière, who sometimes con-^^-tcluded his âclmîrabîe ptaysin an abrupt and inartistic manner, t ' after he had presented to us e perfect picture of human char- 1 actêf. '

"Marivaux was elected a mèmber of the French Academy in 1743, but he wrote little of any importance the last years of his life. He appeared for the last time in public, on Sunday, January 10, 1762, when twenty-five members of the French Academy went to Versailles to présent to the King the fourth édition of the Dictionary of the Academy. He died in Paris on February 12, 1763, aged seventy-five years. He had been affectionately